Thursday, October 15, 2015

Waiting for Changes

"So, how long do you think it will be until I see a change?"

I can remember asking my mentor this exact question when I made a lifestyle change about 7 1/2 years ago.

And, now that I am a personal trainer and a coach, I get asked this question quite often by clients who want to lose weight, gain strength, or just look better. Many times, I can look in to my clients eyes and see that they are wishing for something instant. But when I tell them that there's no instant change, only hard work and dedication, I see despair in their eyes and the actions necessary to achieve their goals disappear.

Do you know how long it has taken for me to notice a difference in how I feel, how I look, and how I carry myself? Roughly seven years. That's right, until very recently I didn't see, feel or think there was a difference. But other people did. Even though I didn't see the change, others did. You will always be the last person to see the change, because you are always going to be hardest on yourself; want more for yourself. And because you only see the little improvements, while they see all those little improvements stacking together, making big changes.

And regardless of who saw it first, the change happened. But it didn't happen over night, it didn't happen in two weeks, a month, (okay I think you got the point). It took time and a lot of little actions, little changes, all of them necessary, in order to get to where I want to be. There is no secret sauce, miracle workout... Just little actions stacked together.

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